Home / About Us / News / Cancer Care at Saint Clare's Now Offers Xifigo for Prostate Cancer

News

Cancer Care at Saint Clare's Now Offers Xifigo® for Prostate CancerFacility is first in Morris County to offer FDA-approved radioactive therapeutic drug for advanced metastatic prostate cancer

DENVILLE, NJ – September 19, 2013 – Cancer Care at Saint Clare’s, the comprehensive oncology program for Saint Clare’s Health System, now offers Xofigo® , which is the first alpha particle-emitting radioactive therapeutic agent approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The injection is available for treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), symptomatic bone metastases and no known visceral metastatic disease. Cancer Care at Saint Clare’s is the first facility in Morris County to offer this treatment option.

Bone is the most common site in the body to be affected by metastatic cancer, and bone metastases are particularly prevalent in patients with prostate cancer. Approximately 90 percent of patients with metastatic prostate cancer show evidence of bone metastases, which is the main cause of death in patients with prostate cancer.

"This injection offers a treatment opportunity for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer with metastatic bone disease who have failed hormone suppression therapy," said Donald Cann, MD, medical director of radiation oncology at Cancer Care at Saint Clare’s in Denville. "This Radium Ra 223 injection mimics the behavior of calcium, and the subsequent high linear energy transfer of Xofigo® may actually result in an anti-tumor effect on the bone, -- which kills the cancer and allows the bone to recover.”

Experts say Xofigo® is the first and only alpha particle-emitting radioactive therapeutic agent approved by the FDA that has demonstrated improvement in overall survival rates. The drug's anti-tumor effect on bone metastases is an important addition to the treatment of this cancer.

Patients who receive radium RA 223 dichloride injections pose no harm to others around them, despite the agent being radioactive. Most insurance companies cover the treatment, which is tolerated well.As a Commission on Cancer-accredited cancer center, Cancer Care at Saint Clare’s takes a multidisciplinary approach to treating cancer as a complex group of diseases that requires consultation among surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists, and other cancer specialists. This multidisciplinary partnership results in improved patient care.

About AlgetaAlgeta is a company focused on developing novel targeted therapies for patients with cancer based on its alpha-pharmaceutical platform. The Company is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and has a US subsidiary, Algeta US, LLC, based in Cambridge, MA performing commercial marketing operations in the US. Algeta is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Ticker: ALGETA). For more information please visit www.algeta.com.

Page Resources

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aug. 03, 2015 – 1:00pm — 3:00pm

Educational class, taught by a Certified Orthopedic Nurse
and Physical Therapist, for patients who want...